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Abstract
This paper investigates representations of aging in contemporary British and Irish theatre. The turn towards portraits of female, as opposed to male, aging in theatre, popular television comedy, and literature is notable. It is the purpose of this paper, therefore, to excavate the politics that lie beneath this cultural development. While, of course, older women have long populated the stage, it is the contention of this article that it is recent years that one can witness a concern to stage particular aspects of the lived experiences of older women's lives in contemporary British and Irish society. Through an examination of stereotype, comedy, illness roles, acting, intergenerational heritage, tragedy, and politics, this paper seeks to better understand the politics of staging age.
Notes
1. Kontakthof was originally performed by Tanztheater Wuppertal in 1978. It was first seen in the UK in 1982 and was revised with a cast of senior citizens in 2002 for the bite festival. In 2009 it was reperformed at the Barbican with two casts; one over 65 years old; one with teenagers over 14 years old.
2. ‘Pouffe’ is a colloquial British word for footstool.
3. The title of this sectoin is from Shakespeare Citation1997, Act two, scene one, line 108.
4. Blythe Citation2006, 6. While ordinarily casting decisions would be taken by the director and so it may seem unfair to level this criticism at Blythe, in the context of this first production Blythe's active involvement in the project means that responsibility for casting is co-owned by Blythe and the director.